East Carolina Scores Late to Edge UMBC, 2-1, in Series Finale

Batting

GREENVILLE, N.C. – UMBC senior Rob McCabe (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) scored on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth inning to tie to score at 1-1, but East Carolina pushed a run across in the bottom of the eighth to edge the Retriever baseball team, 2-1, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Sophomore left-hander Joe Vanderplas (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax/Tennessee) tossed six quality innings for UMBC (5-14), allowing just one run on two hits, but earned a no-decision. Junior Jonny Dierks (Easton, Md./Independence/Fort Scott CC) relieved Vanderplas and pitched well, but took the loss (1-2) as the Pirates plated one in the eighth.

Ryan Williams (7-1) earned the win for East Carolina (17-11) after throwing three innings in relief of starter David Lucroy. Lucroy surrendered just three hits and one run in six innings. Williams, meanwhile, struck out four batters and allowed just two Retrievers to reach base.

Both pitching staffs dominated as the offenses combined for just three runs on nine hits. Neither team committed an error in the game.

Both teams were held off the board in the first three innings before Williams sent UMBC down in order in the top of the fourth. In the bottom half, ECU opened the scoring as Drew Reynolds pulled a single to right, and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Ian Townsend.

Junior Jake Barnes (Annandale, Va./Annandale) singled to left with one down in the fifth, but the Retrievers could not capitalize. Vanderplas continued to hold the hosts off the board, though, and UMBC backed him up in the next frame.

McCabe drew a lead-off walk to start the inning and took second on a sac bunt by freshman Connor Hax (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara). Freshman Andrew Casali (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) then grounded out to the pitcher, but McCabe advanced to third. The senior then raced home on a wild pitch to knot the game at 1-1.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the eighth, despite Barnes collecting his second hit of the game in the top of the seventh. In the home half of the eighth, Dylan Brown led off with a single through the right side and then advanced to second on a sac bunt. Charlie Yorgen then tripled down the right field line, chasing Brown around to break the tie.

UMBC now returns to the Mid-Atlantic region to take on Delaware State in Dover, Del. on Tuesday before returning to Alumni Field to host UMES on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m.

DAWG BITES

- East Carolina has now won all four meetings between the two clubs.

- UMBC is 1-5 against schools from North Carolina this season (0-3 vs. East Carolina; 0-2 vs. Elon; 1-0 vs. UNC Greensboro).

- The Retrievers played error-free baseball on Sunday, but are 0-2 in games when committing zero defensive miscues.

- Freshman Hunter Dolshun (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley), who went 1-fo-3 on Sunday, in on an eight-game hitting streak, tying him with Casali for the longest of the season. He has reached base in 13 consecutive games.